Stanford History Education Group 

Reading Like a Historian  

How did People in the 14th Century

Understand the Black Death?
 
Sourcing & Contextualization 
 
  Doc A: Paris Medical Faculty  Doc B: Ibn al-Wardi 

1. Who wrote this Document?      

 

2. When & where was this     

document written?    
 
 

3. Why was this document     

written?    
 
 

4. Do you think people in 1348     

trusted & believed these   
authors?   
 
 
 
 
Close Reading & Corroboration 
 
  Doc A: Paris Medical Faculty  Doc B: Ibn al-Wardi 

5. Where did the plague     

originate?   
 
 
 

6. What or who cause the     

plague?   
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Doc A: What should people have done to try to prevent  8. Doc B: How did people try to prevent or cure the 
or cure the plague?  plague? 

   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Questions​: Answer in complete sentences. 
 
9. How do these documents illustrate how people understood the “Black Death”? 
 
 
 
 
10. List 2-3 Questions you still have about the “Black Death” oe how people understood it?  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. What types of documents might you examine to try and answer these questions?